All about gardening - plants, cultivation, weed and pest control and what's happening here in Appalachian Ohio at Hoot Owl Hollow Nursery and Botanical Garden.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Forsythia 'Lime Time'

And they go on and on... This is Forsythia 'Lime Time', another of the 'small' forsythias that wasn't. Did I mention before the number of plants we have been sold as 'small' that turn out to be rather vigorous. I really don't think our soil is that much better (though it is quite good in most places) or my gardening techniques superior (though I do have a lot of experince - another way of saying I'm older than dirt), but rather the problem with growers who rush plants to market before they really know what they'll do. A BIG complaint of mine. Rant done, more on the forsythia. This one has a lovely green and gold variegation, mostly an irregular gold edge. It certainly stands out since the color is quite a bit brighter than this picture would indicate. We put it at the edge of a path near the hardy cactus scree thinking it would be nice there. In 2 years it was over 6 feet tall and at least that wide. We ended up moving it in a warm spell in January to a space across the peony field near a crabapple. We weren't sure it was the best time for the move, but forsythia's are tough. We are in the process of putting an edge of forsythia all along the road and the earliest ones, just little sticks when planted, are blooming nicely this year. Given the 1000 or so feet of road frontage we have to cover, this is an ongoing project, but one which is turning out nicely. I'll root some more this year to plant in the fall as it is so easy to do. Just cut them and stick them in a pot of dirt - lots of cuttings close together since they seem to like company - and keep them watered until they root. At least half of them will root and you will have lots more bushes to use or share.